General Electric allegedly damaged the Hudson River by dumping carcinogenic PCBs into the river in the 1940s and 1970s, according to a local environmental group.
Scenic Hudson commissioned this report to examine how PCBs affected wildlife, recreational fishing, drinking water, and the Hudson. This comes as trustees from the federal government and the state negotiate a settlement to GE over Hudson damages.
The Natural Resources Damage Assessment, also known as NRDA, is a figure that the federal government uses to collect from GE damages to the Hudson, a common resource.
The report put the damages to drinking water at $1.4 Billion; recreational fishing at $2.4 Billion; and the damage to wildlife at almost $6.4 Billion, along with other costs in the $11.4 billion figure.
This figure is higher than the NRDA for Deepwater Horizon’s disaster, which Scenic Hudson Director in Environmental Advocacy Hayley Carlock compared GE pollution to on Tuesday. Carlock stated that while the oil from Deepwater’s 2010 spillage was either cleaned up or dissipated in the cleanup, PCBs still cause damage to the Hudson’s ecosystem many decades later.
The NRDA of the Hudson River is separate from the EPA-mandated dredging by GE of the upper Hudson. The EPA issued a certificate for completion in April 2019 for the project. However, New York State sued, claiming that the dredging did little to adequately remediate the river. New York lost the lawsuit in 2021.
According to the report, additional dredging costs GE $10.7 billion.
According to Carlock, the Scenic Hudson report does not use all of the evidence available and does not cover all the damage that pollution has caused to the river and its surroundings. He called it “not entirely comprehensive.” The report, for example, was not able to account for damage to Hudson commercial fisheries, which were shut down in 1976 and remain closed to this day.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has hailed GE’s dredging work on the Upper Hudson River as a “historic achievement” and EPA, supported federally by the federal courts, concluded that no additional dredging was necessary,” a General Electric spokesperson stated.
“This report from a private advocacy group is inconsistent in light of the abundance of scientific literature that shows that Hudson River wildlife populations have been healthy and thriving for many years.” The natural resource assessment by the government has not been completed. According to the spokesperson we are proud to have contributed and will continue to work closely together with federal, state and local agencies.
According to the report’s authors, it is an attempt by the authors to calculate damages while trustees representing the state and federal governments negotiate the NRDA between GE and the state.
Carlock stated, “We are calling on NRD Trustees (GE) to negotiate a settlement that will allow for the restoration of this river.” “The company should take action to remedy its decades of pollution, lay the foundation for clean drinking waters, healthy habitats, safe access for all, and revitalized ecotourism.
The man-made compound polychlorinated biphenyl (or PCB) was used as an electronic insulator and for other purposes due to its heat resistance. 1979 saw a ban on PCBs due to concerns about their toxic effects. From 1947 to 1977, GE reportedly dumped 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson.